Sunsets

Cowboys and a View

This is the view we have sitting outside the door of the motorhome. The first afternoon we were here there were quite a few cattle in that clearing. Cowboys and dogs were rounding them up. James caught a few glimpses of the cowboys. I could only hear them whistling and the dogs barking. The cows were mooing and complaining. Not something you get to see/hear everyday. James said that they were probably taking some of the calves from the mamas. He was right, we heard the mamas crying most of the night. It was pitiful but by late morning they were moving to the other side of the hill and we couldn't hear them anymore.

More cows

We just can't seem to get away from the cows. Our 2nd day in the site all these cows start walking around the campsite checking us out. They strolled by for a few days but never came back into the campsite. I will have to say that Colorado has some of the most beautiful cattle and horses I have ever seen. They are nice and fat and their coats are so healthy looking.

We are on our second bucket of local grown peaches and I just bought some homemade jalapeno jelly today. There are several bakeries here so we have been buying fresh bread every 5 or 6 days. James bought marble jewish rye today. He thought it would make a good sandwich bread.

We eat inside the motorhome so there's no scraps anywhere for animals to come and find. There are these huge flies but we're trying to keep them at bay with the flyswatters. For some reason they only come around when I'm outside and they seem to swarm me. James says it's because I'm full of it...

Camping on the Mountain

This is our own private mountain camp site. The views are amazing to say the least. James set the hammock up right on the edge of the cliff. You can see the tops of the trees in front of him.

We are both reading lots of books and just enjoying the scenery. We came into Pagosa to stay at an RV park for the night to get LONG hot showers, do laundry and get caught up with email, bills, etc. Back to the mountaintop tomorrow for another 7 days of camping. We'll have to come back to Pagosa on Friday morning to empty sewer and get some more water. Cell reception is spotty if we have it at all and we get no TV, which is OK except for knowing what is going on in the news.

Plan on heading back to Texas on the 6th making a few stops along the way. We will be home by the 11th so we are sure hoping that the temps are below 100 by then.

4 Wheelin'

Coming back from Mesa Verde James decides that we need to go 4 wheeling since we have the jeep. He starts going down these gravel roads. I was OK with it until we got about 1/2 way up the mountain where the road narrowed and there was a cliff on one side. James was having a blast, hee-hawwing and making man noises since he was doing such a manly thing. Pretty soon the road went from gravel to mostly rock. I was DONE! I'm trying to be a good sport for James because he is having so much fun, but I am terrified. I was holding my breath and holding on for dear life. I was grateful that I had my super dooper bra on that day otherwise my boobs would be six inches lower. I kept trying to find places to turn around. A bear would have made this scenario perfect but we haven't personally seen one this whole trip. James finally found a spot to turn around (I just closed my eyes) and we headed back down. I was also concerned about James' neck. He was a little sore afterward but he has come a long way in his healing. Now he wants a jeep...

We stayed close around the lake the next day as we were both feeling the ride from the day before. James still has not fished. He's hoping to get some in within the next few days.

It's Raining and Hailing..

We are still in Pagosa enjoying the condos. Went to lunch and saw the dark clouds rolling in. We'd been back about an hour and the rains came-then the hail. When it started hailing James had to run out and cover the up the bike. That lasted a few minutes, then rain for a few minutes mixed with a little more hail. It feels and smells so good, hail and all. Wished we could send it to Texas (well, maybe minus the hail), sorry... The rain seems to be letting up and most likely will fizzle out soon. Wishing it your way...

There are no pics-camera charger hasn't arrived yet. We're leaving tomorrow and will be staying at the RV Park at Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colo for a few days. Then it will be camp wilderness where I will be forced to give up my internet yet once again. I think I'm going to have to have a 5 day limit then James will have to drive me somewhere with internet.

We are so very fortunate to be able to stay here for the summer and enjoy the incredible beauty and weather. We thank God every day that he has blessed us with the opportunity to be able to be here and enjoy so much. Thanks to all of you for thoughts and prayers as we take this journey.

Train Ride/Mesa Verde

Tuesday, August 3

We headed out this morning to ride the Durango/Silverton train. We get two blocks from the parking lot and they announce on the radio that the train is closed due to a large rockslide from the day before. The train will be closed for approx a week to get the tracks cleared. After standing in line to get our money returned we had to switch gears on what to do the rest of the day. Since we had the jeep we decided to go to Mesa Verde. By the time we got there it was after one and we couldn't get tickets to go see the Cliff Dwelling until 5:30, so we passed. We checked out all the other stuff concerning the Indian dwellings. It was interesting. We were glad to be in the jeep-riding on the bike for long periods of time really bothers our backs.

An Adventure...

Monday, August 1

Headed back to Silverton/Ouray area but we are prepared this time! Heavy plastic ponchos with hoods, layers of clothing and plenty of water. After saying a prayer we were on our way. Passed Purgatory and the scenery was just beautiful. I took some pictures but they just don't do justice to the real thing.

Arrived in Silverton, a cute little old silver mine/western town. Ate lunch at the pink BBQ place (don't remember the name)where we met a family from Alvin-small world. It started raining lightly and we really wanted to get to Ouray (45 min)since we had already come that far. Got all our raingear on and headed north. The farther we rode the prettier it was. The road has no guardrails and was very curvy. I did alot of praying, holding of my breath and tried really hard to be a big girl.

As we were coming around the last curve into Ouray the gears went out on the bike. James was able to coast us into town and a place to park. We said a huge prayer and were VERY lucky that the gears choose to go out in a good location. There was no one in town who could repair the motorcycle. It was late afternoon and we'd be spending the night. I'm freaking out at this point pretty sure that we'd be sleeping outside. The bike breaking down was not in the plans and we were about 125 miles from the campsite. I was also concerned that James would be missing several doses of his medicines but he was fine with it all other than I wouldn't be able to take my "happy" pill, which is very important.

An elderly lady named Jamie (a resident) was walking her dog and stopped to see if we were in trouble. She was so nice and concerned that we wouldn't be able to get a room anywhere. Jamie contacted her husband who called around and found a hotel room for us. James contacted insurance company and there was a wrecker coming for us in the morning. It was still lightly raining. Went to the brewery to grab a bite to eat and James tried a few of the beers. I went back to the hotel to take a hot shower and James decided to walk around the small town. Now, I'm not even going to discuss the hotel room or the mattress. We were exhausted and barely slept.

Beautiful morning and wrecker driver picks us up around eleven. Nice guy, a regular little bubba chatty Cathy. He was just full of stories. Made sure to point out every location where a vehicle had went off the road, what happened, who died, etc. I was just thrilled beyond belief and couldn't wait to get out of the truck an hour and a half later. He did give us alot of good information and history. I was glad that James was able to enjoy the beauty from the passenger seat as he has to really keep his eyes on the road and doesn't get to enjoy the full bike ride like I do.

We arrive in Durango at the Yamaha dealership and I start the quest for a rental car only to find out there is not one to be found. We are, after all in peak summer season in a tourist town. Now, I'm really freaking out, it's 4:00 and the next day we have non-refundable Durango/Silverton train tickets. We need to get back to the campsite (30 min away)-we've had the same clothes/underwear on for two days in a row. I am just thrilled with that. James was in the garage with the mechanic taking the bike apart and they found the problem. Something called a spline (?) was broken. The mechanic, working on bikes since the late seventies, said it was only the second time he has seen this problem. I would expect no less. We still had the problem of getting back to the lake so we resorted to scrutinizing the customers (this place was pretty busy)to see who we could approach and offer to pay them to take us to the lake. We lucked out! An electrician came in and he was heading that way and offered us a ride. We were loading up his truck when the owner, Tom pulled up and the electrician said "hey, I'm taking your customers to the lake, their bike is in your garage and they have no transportaion". Tom told us that we could use his personal jeep until the bike was fixed. What luck and our prayers were answered! Hallelujah and thank the Lord! He is watching out for us and putting the right people in our path. We took advantage of having a vehicle, stopped at the grocery store and loaded up. It's a little hard to carry a case of water on the bike. Had to get back, get a good night's sleep for the long train ride the next day.

We will have to say that Durango has been one of the friendliest places we have ever visited. People are nice and very helpful. You can tell they enjoy living here.

We want to take this opportunity to thank the employees and owners, Tom and Karen Grover of Handlebar MotorSports, Durango, Colorado. The employees were courteous and very helpful. Thank you Tom and Karen for the use of your personal jeep for three days. It was an extemely nice gesture. We still owe you a dinner.

Lake Vallecito, Bayfield, Colorado

James seems to be doing much better in this climate. His fingers aren't swollen and he hasn't been complaining about pain. The air smells fresh and clean. We spent six days getting to this area because of the high altitude (8,000 ft). We did not want to get altitude sickness and so far so good. You have to drink alot of water and liquids.

We only spent one night in Chama, New Mexico and headed to Blue Spruce RV Park in Lake Vallecito for a 10 day stay. It was a nice clean place to stay and the employees were extremely helpful. Below are pics from the town's website, we were on the north end. We really enjoyed our stay there and had a great spot right at the bottom of the mountain where we sat in our lawn chairs and watched the ground squirrels, rabbits, birds and hummingbirds. The squirrels would come right up to you to get their food. They were fun to watch. We had a bear visit the campsite nightly but it never bothered us. One guy left dog food in the back of his truck which had a hard cover over the bed. The bear clawed his way through the top to get to the food.

Spent alot of time riding the motorcycle around the lake. We loved the little community with it's small stores and restaurants. Everyone was very friendly and we met ALOT of Texans. The people in the site across from us were from Pearland, which is the next town over from Alvin. Lots of families from Dallas/Houston areas.

Homemade fudge seems to be a big thing here so James' is in heaven. I am still on a quest for a good margarita. Lucky for me I packed my trusty Kitchenaid blender, 1.75 full liter of tequila and plenty of fixings. I told James that we need to come back next summer and set up a "Margarita/BBQ" stand on the Hwy. We'd make a killing. A thought just occurred to me. We could set up a "lemonade" type stand in all the campgrounds we go to. Travel around the country making lots of money, be on the Food network, then we could franchise the business...OK, back to reality. I think the thin air might be getting to me.

We decided that on the weekends we would just hang around and do all our traveling during the week when there is less traffic. It is nice not to be on any sort of time frame, it definitely helps you to relax. Before we took this trip I promised myself that I would do my best to roll with the flow and step out of my comfort zone.

Friday, July 29 we hopped on the bike and headed north of Durango to Silverton/Ouray area. The ride was amazing. The road you travel on is called the Million Dollar Highway because during the late 1800's it was built as a toll road and that was the cost to build it at that time. About half way to Silverton is a ski area called Purgatory where a 7 mile gravel road leads up to some campgrounds. James, being the adventurer he is decides to travel up this road. I, NOT being an adventurer, was hanging on for dear life. The farther up the mountain the narrower the road became and the steeper the cliff (first pic). Did I mention there are no guardrails on these roads. The views were amazing but by the time we reached the top I was ready for a break and something stronger than the water we brought to drink. James, AKA Daniel Boone, was in heaven. Black clouds started rolling in so we decided to head back down. About one mile away from hitting pavement the bottom fell out. We jumped off and tried to put on these thin clear ponchos in the gale force winds. By the time we got the stupid ponchos on we were already wet (and cold). We laughed at how funny we must have looked fighting the wind to get this thin piece of plastic over us. Everything was dusty from the gravel road and the rain made everything muddy. James took it in stride but I do not like to be dirty and this was almost too much for me to take. I was comforted by the thought of a nice hot shower and clean clothes when we returned to the campsite. Needless to say, we went straight back to the campgrounds. We'll try the ride again later.

James going fishin"

Only my husband would figure out a way to strap his fishing pole to the motorcycle...need I say more.

The Adventure continues...

We are now in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. This is the view outside our door of the Rocky Mountains and we are on the golfing fairway. The weather is fantastic-high of 80 today and humidity is about 30 percent. We are sorry for those of you who are trying to endure the heat but we're not letting that interfere with our fun.

It has been almost two weeks since the last post. Could not get on the internet at our last campsite so I have lots of tales to tell. Will add more posts as I have time. We hope everyone is staying out of the heat and keeping cool.

Route 66

Get your kicks on Route 66! All you old farts will remember that phrase. It's Sunday evening and we are getting packed up for our trip to Chama in northern, NM. Plan to find a place to camp somewhere in the National Forest until Friday afternoon. This means no electricity or internet. We're hoping that our cell phones will work. The next posts will be full of pics.

There were thunderstorms on and off all day. James kept himself busy working around the campsite and I got some reading done and actually finished a book. We are ready to move on to greener pastures. A trip to WalMart in the morning for food and misc. It's been a lazy few days and I'm not gonna lie-it's pretty darn nice!

Everyone have a great week!

Route 66-Harry's Roadhouse

We're gonna have to give Harry's Roadhouse a thumbs up. An eclectic local place located on Historic Route 66 just east of Santa Fe. In three days we have eaten breakfast, lunch or dinner there. Food with a southwest flair and the servings were large enough that we could split the meal. The atmosphere was laid back and we enjoyed the people watching. Staff was pleasant and very helpful. One disappointment was the margaritas. You all know I love me some margaritas (one of the reasons I can't lose weight) so I always want to try the local fare. After several locals recommended the margaritas we stopped by on Friday afternoon on our way back from Santa Fe. What a waste of money! They were awful, which was surprising since the food was really good. One of the first things I packed in the motor home was my blender and tequila as I was pretty certain finding a good margarita may be a problem. I told James I should take a small cup of margaritas to Harry's so they'll know what a good one tastes like.

Miraculous Staircase

I'm still trying to learn how to post on this blog so bear with me. I seem to be having a hard time posting the pics.

These are pics from the Loretto chapel (downtown Santa Fe) where the miraculous staircase was built (I forgot the year but it's old). It winds from the floor up to the balcony area. The altar is made of wood but is painted to look like marble. It was pretty amazing.

We have not been impressed with the driving skills in this area. We have never seen so many people running red lights. Riding on the motorcycle we had to be very defensive so we finally decided to just go back to the campground and relax, do some laundry and organize the motorhome for the 10th time. It's been pretty uneventful for the last few days. Rain showers on and off making the air cooler. I'm in sweats this evening, it's in the 60's and feels great. James is running around in t-shirt and shorts and liking the coolness.

Santa Fe

We spent Thursday in Santa Fe and walked around downtown where everything started to look the same after awhile. It was a little too artsy fartsy for these two country bumpkins. James bought a fajita from a "pink" cart vendor in the square. I wasn't that brave and decided to eat later. He said it was good and is still alive so guess my fears were unfounded. Visited the oldest house in the US and San Miguel, the oldest church structure in the US both built in the early 1600's. It was interesting.

Rode around on the motorcycle for a while then headed back to the campground. Took a walk in the cool evening air and saw a rainbow when we got to the top of the hill. Of course I did not have the camera on me so now I have to keep it on me at all times-you never know what you are going to see. I'm ready to head farther north where the scenery is greener. Not very many tall trees here and different kinds of pine trees than what we are used to seeing. It is pretty in it's own way. There is also dirt-everywhere. Those of you who know me well know that I do not like dirt or to be dirty so this is a stretch for me. I'll survive. James is loving it. He doesn't care as long as he can be outside. I will have to say that the weather is nice. 80's during the day and high 50's/60's at night. There has been rain off and on since we arrived but we are enjoying that. Almost forgot what it was like.

Gibbons Creek

Our Colorado adventure has begun! Lots of stops before we get there but there's a lot to see. Stayed outside of College Station at Gibbons Creek Reservoir the first night. There were only 15 campsites and 3 other trailers besides us. It started getting dark, I looked out the window and saw deer legs behind the trees. I fixed a drink and planned on sitting at the picnic table to watch the wildlife come out and wait for James to come back from fishing.

When I opened the motorhome door I fully expected to see a cute little deer staring back at me, but instead what I saw was a big white ugly steer staring me down. I was a little confused but rolled with the flow and thought maybe a gate was left open somewhere. I proceeded to the table and realized when I sat down that the steer had brought along some friends. In a few minutes the motorhome was surrounded by cattle. The guy two campsites over came out, jumped in his truck and took off. This action led me to believe that the steers may live here. I started laughing and decided that I needed to go get the camera. I had to make my way through the crowd hoping I wouldn't be stampeded. I did manage to get a few pics in when James strolled up. He informed me that they were all over the park so guess it was a normal thing.

Vickie, these pics are proof!

Still in Arkansas

We went for a boat ride-ONE TIME. It was fun. Now the carberator is out. Always something... Had a great time camping at Lake Ouachita... until the rains came. Campers in Caddo Lake (about 15 miles away) were not so lucky. That is the area that has been on the news the last few days. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families that have been touched by this tragedy.

Staying at a friends house near Lake DeGray until Wednesday morning then we head back to Texas so we can be home for Father's Day.

We are at Kim's (my sister) house now visiting with family then heading to a fish fry this evening. Having a good time. Retirement is GREAT!

Life is changing. . .

Hi everybody!

I can't believe that it has been a year since our last post! It is amazing how time can get away from you. We have had a very busy year so I will attempt to catch everyone up. I appreciate the emails from friends and family but I don't always have the time to respond. We are getting ready to make a big change in our lives and this is a great time to keep you all updated.

I am not even going to try and recap the last year in chronological order. I can't even remember what I had for lunch today. My brain works much slower these days as my year and a half of "forced" retirement has left me quite laid back. Now, I know this is a shock to most of you. I still have my moments, you can ask James but I'm a mellow fellow these days.

The kids are both doing well. Nick will be starting his Jr. year at Texas A&M and will receive an Industrial Distribution degree. A few days before Christmas Nick proposed to Christina and they are planning a November 2012 wedding. A milestone in Nick's life was turning 30 in April. That's right - I said T-H-I-R-T-Y. How could that have happened? When old people tell you to enjoy the time with your kids, you better listen to them. It goes by way too fast. Nick has grown into an amazing man and always manages to make me laugh. He doesn't get to visit very often but we have a good time when he does come home.

Amanda graduated last May from Stephen F. Austin and is teaching at a daycare in the Dallas area. With the job market being so tough she is still trying to get into a school district. She has had several promising leads so we are hopeful for her. At the moment she is single and adjusting to life as a young adult. Amanda is more beautiful than ever and I miss my baby girl. Shiner is her 2 year old dauchsand, who is quite a character and provides us with entertainment . That would be our Granddog. We don't have any human babies yet for us to spoil rotten. It will be quite awhile before I get any. That's ok, for now I live vicariously through my friends and their grandkids.

James has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and we are trying to deal with that along with the oesteoarthritis. We both try to keep ourselves as well educated as we can concerning all the health issues. He had a bad winter as it was much colder than usual. He is feeling better these days with the warm weather but still has times of severe pain. The hot tub seems to help his comfort level and when we are at home he is usually in it every evening. On really good days he is busy with chores and tries to fit a motorcycle ride in there somewhere.

I am doing fine. Retirement has agreed with me and I have enjoyed every minute. My health is OK and except for the intensive dental work (explanation in another blog) I am going through I can't complain. God has certainly blessed us this past year in many different unexpected ways. We have been able to help friends and family in various ways because we are not working and have the time. Adjusting to losing two full time incomes and trying to get by on James disability check has been challenging to say the least. We have tried to be fiscally responsible during our marriage and have learned that we can live so much simpler.

The decision to put our house on the market last April was with mixed feelings. The kids grew up there and we still have a wonderful neighborhood with the best neighbors. Tomorrow we will sign paperwork for a contract on the house. It is supposed to take almost 60 days to process the loan. So now we start the job of dismantling our home of 15 years. I have been purging and "streamlining" for over a year and am so glad I did. We plan on selling what we can and storing the rest. We are still not quite sure where we want to live and will be taking our time in finding our next place. In the meantime we have purchased James' Uncle JC's motorhome and plan on traveling some in between Dr. and Dentist appts.

We are in Hot Springs, Ark and plan to be here for an other 3 weeks. My friend Martha and her family flew to California for a reunion so James and I offered to take care of the 4 dogs (plus our 2), a cat and keep an eye on Granny (Martha's mom). James pulled the boat behind the motorhome and I drove in the truck with the motorcycle in the back. We each had a dog. It was quite a caravan. Our plan is to spend the rest of the time here on the lakes enjoying the beautiful scenery and fresh air (we won't miss the pollution of Houston).

I will try my best to keep this post updated and respond to messages the best I can.

July 2-Kari

We are getting ready to head to Lake Ouachita for the 4th. They have a great fireworks display and we will be out in the boat watching them. There will be 5 humans and 4 dogs sharing the cabin so we who knows what sort of interesting things are in store for us. James went out there yesterday to take some stuff out and came back with 5 ticks. Ticks and chiggers just seem to attach themselves to him when no one else gets bit.

The weather has cooled a little and it is very nice this morning. High today in the mid 90's. Kim (my sister) and her family will be heading to the Buffalo river on Sunday for a few days so we will come back into Hot Springs to stay at their house while they are gone. I am hoping to get some pictures posted when we get back.

As most of you know James has spent alot of time (and money) getting the boat back into working condition. There is still more work to be done but it is mostly cosmetic. The cabin will be totally redone and the instrument panel where all the gauges are will be new. Of course this will definitely have to be done after summer when it is cooler as we are going to attempt to do most of the work ourselves. The motor is finally working properly so at least we can get it out in the water and have fun. We spent about 2 hours on the water yesterday and the boat ran great! It is very fast so James is in heaven. It was fun zipping across the lake passing all the other boats.

Hope that everyone has a great holiday and you get to enjoy the four "F's"-family, friends, fun and fireworks!

June 27, 2009-Kari

Thanks to everyone for following along with our blog. Our last entry was May 6! We still have to post entries and pictures for the last few days of our trip. I'm thinking that right now that may not happen. We have been very busy since our return.

Nick earned an Associates in Business, was accepted at Texas A&M and will be getting a degree in Industrial Distribution. Christina, Nick's fiance, was accepted to Physicians Assistant School in Laredo, Tx. They are planning a wedding after they both graduate and get their careers started.

Amanda graduated cum laude from Stephen F. Austin and earned her Bachelors in Early Education. The graduation party was at Uncle Brent's (James brother). James cooked all the meat and outdid himself on the brisket. There was a keg of Shiner along with a ton of food and everyone seemed to have a good time. Brent's wife, Lisa took care of the decorations and the really cute, delicious cake. Amanda is presently living in Denton, Tx with cousin Christen and her husband Rick. She is seeking a teaching position somewhere in the Dallas area and we are excited about her starting a career (and of course, earning a paycheck).

We are in Hot Springs, Ark right now taking advantage of some down time. We had to bring the dogs with us as they were traumatized last time we traveled. My sister is gracious enough to let us keep the dogs at her house. Fortunately they have four dogs already so two more just makes it more of a party. Went to Drew's (our nephew) baseball game on Thurs night. It is the first game we have been able to see him play. We must have been good luck because they won!

Looking forward to some time on the lake this week. Weather forecast HOT- (105 today) so we are pretty much staying inside most of the day and try to spend a few hours in the evening outside.

Hope you have some fun plans for the summer. Enjoy! Will update blog when I can. Remember, if you become a follower you will recieve an email notification that there has been a new post. Contact me if you need help with this.